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Dead Man

6.9

15,249

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Original title

Dead Man

Year

1995

Running time

120 min.

Country

United States

Director

Jim Jarmusch

Screenwriter

Jim Jarmusch

Cast

Music

Neil Young

Cinematography

Robby Müller (B&W)

Producer

Pandora Film, Bac Films, Newmarket Capital Group, JVC Entertainment Networks, 12 Gauge Productions

Genre

Western | Cult Movie. Independent Film (US)

Synopsis

Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch reaches a new plateau in his career with this poetic anti-Western. DEAD MAN follows William Blake (no, not the famous poet), an innocent young man who travels out west in order to find employment but ends up a wounded fugitive on the run from ruthless bounty hunters. Partnered with a spiritual Native American named Nobody, Blake begins to morph into the outlaw that he is mistakenly considered to be. Jarmusch’s profound drama features a wonderful performance by Johnny Depp, as well as a moving score by Neil Young.

Rankings Position

#108 Best Westerns in the history of film

Awards: 1995: Cannes Film Festival: Nominated for Palme d'Or (Best Film)

1996: New York Film Critics Circle: Best Cinematography

1996: Independent Spirit Awards: 4 Nominations including Best Film

1996: Chicago Film Critics Awards: 3 Nominations, including Best Picture

1996: National Society of Film Critics (NSFC): 2 nominations

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Critics' reviews

"The movie collapses under its own weight (...) despite Robby Mauller's impressive black-and-white photography, which puts the film on a higher artistic plane than other equally unbearable movies."

Mike Clark: USA Today
"An existential sitcom of a western full of deadpan humor, a sort of unhurried, art-house pace and some of the strangest characters ever seen"

Desson Thomson: The Washington Post
"'Dead Man' looks and sounds like no other Western in memory (...) But the film’s pleasures are simply too elusive and mild to make up for a lack of narrative propulsion."

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"A bizarre tale of corrupted innocence (...) No contemporary actor better conveys purity of spirit than Depp"

Edward Guthmann: SFGATE
"Audiences attuned to Mr. Jarmusch's drolly hip sensibility should be delighted with the film, but to the uninitiated, its drier patches are just as likely to induce yawns."

Stephen Holden: The New York Times
"A strange, slow, unrewarding movie that provides us with more time to think about its meaning than with meaning (...) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"Looser in structure than the director's earlier work, but pervaded with the same deadpan humour and superb imagery, this is an original and very weird account of the American wilderness"

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Ranking Lists Position

60 My Favorite Westerns (127)

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Dead Man

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